Phorum is a PHP and MySQL based Open Source forum software. In this guide, we will guide you step-by-step through the Phorum installation process on the Debian 9 operating system using Nginx as the web server, MariaDB as the database, and acme.sh and Let's Encrypt for HTTPS.

Requirements

Requirements for running Phorum are:

Nginx

PHP version 5.2 or greater

MySQL/MariaDB version 5.0 or greater

Prerequisites

A Debian 9 operating system.

A non-root user with sudo privileges.

Initial steps

Check your Debian version:

lsb_release -ds# Debian GNU/Linux 9.8 (stretch)

Set up the timezone:

sudo dpkg-reconfigure tzdata

Update your operating system packages (software). This is an important first step because it ensures you have the latest updates and security fixes for your operating system's default software packages:

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y

Install some essential packages that are necessary for basic administration of the Debian operating system:

PHP-FPM service is automatically started and enabled on reboot on Ubuntu 18.04 system, so there is no need to start and enable it manually. We can move on to the next step, which is the database installation and setup.

Step 2 - Install MariaDB and create a database

Install MariaDB database server:

sudo apt install -y mariadb-server

Check the MariaDB version:

mysql --version

Run mysql_secure installation script to improve MariaDB security and set the password for MariaDB root user:

Securing your forum with HTTPS is not necessary, but it is a good practice to secure your site traffic. In order to obtain TLS certificate from Let's Encrypt we will use acme.sh client. Acme.sh is a pure UNIX shell software for obtaining TLS certificates from Let's Encrypt with zero dependencies.